I’ve said this for a while now – whole food nutrition is paramount when it comes to hitting the mark on your fitness goals. Getting it anywhere is easy and possible as you’ve already learnt by following this blog and reading the books. So naturally, I don’t advocate living off protein shakes and popping supplement tablets or capsules, because it’s entirely unnecessary.

Most of your nutrition, if you expect to see any lasting results, should come from whole foods – meats, dairy, healthy fats, vegetables, fruits, minerals, etc.

But when we start getting into things like absorption rate and amino acid profiles (which you’ve learnt about in both nutrition books already – if you haven’t, well…you know what to do), protein powders have their time and place, reigning supreme in certain areas.

If you’re training hard 5-6 days a week, you’re gonna get hungry. Real hungry. The more you progress, the more you need to help your body maintain that lean mass you’ve earned…and while you’ve learnt it’s pretty easy to hit your nutrient uptake mark on a daily basis, certain factors in life can try to throw you off course.

So you need a good way to make sure that you can roll with the punches when you don’t quite get what you need from a meal, this way you’re still gradually gaining and maintaining lean mass and strength.

While Casein Hydrolysate is a great way to give you a protein hit post-workout and throughout the day, I’m not gonna be that self-righteous prick that assumes everybody wants to dish out the cash for it – or has the cash for it. After all, SUPP UP. is all about practicality.

Casein, in comparison to whey has always been pricier to make, and there’s a very justified and in-depth back story to this, which would take another post to elaborate on (who knows…you interested in reading it? Let me know.).

The primary thing you need to focus on right now is that while it’s perfectly fine to get a protein hit from standard whey concentrate, casein, in even its most generic form, is a much better lean mass and strength builder (think along the lines of 50% better) – and there’s plenty of research out there to confirm it.

So, similar to the budget post-workout shake I discussed a while back, there’s also more moderately priced caseins out there in comparison to Casein Hydrolysate.

For the quick and dirty explanation this is what you need to know:

Casein comes in many forms – all of which absorb at different rates. The absorption rate, from slowest to fastest, is as follows:

You’ll remember how I mentioned in both nutrition books that although casein hydrolysate is the most rapidly absorbed casein, it’s also the highest quality casein you can buy. Hydrolysate proteins are a whole different ball game in comparison to micellar proteins, being on opposite ends of the spectrum. You’ll also remember how I mentioned that milk protein is great as it’s a blend of whey and casein.

The most important thing to remember is this:

When it comes to lean mass and strength gains, casein is your go to protein as like whey, it stimulates protein synthesis – but with the added advantage of slowing protein breakdown. This means more concentrated levels of leucine in the bloodstream, and anti-catabolic properties, ensuring muscle mass is maintained – even on non-training days.

This makes casein your go-to protein between meals and just before bedtime.

This is especially good if you want something light to carry you or you’ve not got the type of metabolism that can handle snacks before bed (remember how I said we’re all metabolically unique? Yeah, that applies here).

Which just reiterates that not all proteins are created equal – and every protein has a unique purpose.

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